Oil threatens Mississippi beaches, marshes, angering officials

Monday

Jun 28, 2010 at 8:40 AMJun 28, 2010 at 8:45 AM

McClatchy Newspapers

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. — What South Mississippi officials had been fearing for months came true Sunday when large, gooey globs of weathered oil, chocolate-colored oil patties and tar balls washed ashore on beaches and in marshes in Jackson County, soiling shorelines from Pascagoula to Belle Fontaine beach and Lake Mars Landing in Gulf Park Estates.

Ocean Springs, Miss., Mayor Connie Moran is livid, saying the city is ready to take further action themselves to protect the sensitive marshes and beaches throughout Jackson County.

"The unified command's failure to skim the oil north of Horn Island yesterday is inept and inexcusable," Moran said Sunday. "Had they deployed those resources, the impact to Jackson County would've been far less today.

"Now, I've requested from the Coast Guard to bring in skimmer and support vessels either to be staged in Ocean Springs or to exclusively monitor the Mississippi Sound here in west Jackson County at the mouth of the Biloxi Bay. There's still stuff out there that we can't even see because of all the dispersant. This is just outrageous and unacceptable."

An oiled pelican also was found Saturday near the Lake Mars Landing pier and was taken away by state marine, wildlife and fisheries officials for rehab.

Several pelicans flew over the beached oil patches and mullet could be seen swimming around the shallow waters around Lakes Mars Landing early Sunday afternoon. A couple of hours passed before three boats with skimmers started trying to collect the weather oil, patties and tar balls that had reached the areas around Belle Fontaine beach and Lake Mars Landing.

Other weathered oil was found Sunday on both sides of Deer Island, officials confirmed.

Donald Langum, emergency operations agency director in Jackson County, said a "very small" amount of weathered oil in the form of tar balls dotting Pascagoula's beach front and cleanup crews were expected there today for cleanup.

Meanwhile, Moran and a couple of city aldermen — John Gill and Fred "Chic" Cody — gathered at Harbor Landing Yacht Club on Sunday afternoon along with an official with MDEQ and the Coast Guard and others the city contracted with for their own cleanup, to discuss immediate ways to fight the oil.

Ocean Springs already has installed protective fencing in some areas and other oil absorbent materials to protect their estuaries and marshes, but Mayor Moran, Gill and Cody said more needs to be done.

Moran said she's tired of getting the same old response from BP officials about there being "more oil out there than we can handle. She added, "Now that they are so unclear about who's in charge, we want to know what we can do to clean it up ourselves."

Alderman Gill later asked Coast Guard Lt. Mike St. Jeanos whether the city could "count on Unified Command to have assets" for the city.

In response, St. Jeanos said, "My answer to that is we don't know. Unfortunately, ... That is probably an honest answer. If I had control of it, I'd have a boat skimming off Horn Island."

Though St. Jeanos later said the chain of command does work and that the Coast Guard is ultimately in control, Gill said the city's moving forward with their own efforts.

"We are not waiting on BP and the Coast Guard," he said. "We are ready to move."